Citing stymied efforts to make Shell Oil Co. clean up an abandoned gas station on the Towson traffic circle, Baltimore County officials confirmed they plan to condemn the heavily trafficked site and build a park.
County Executive Jim Smith announced the plans in a news conference Tuesday afternoon, blasting the oil company for shirking its environmental responsibilities amid record profits. He said Baltimore County has tried to buy the site from the company for the past two years, but the county refused to purchase it “as is.”
“There is nothing anti-business about expecting a very profitable oil company to be a reasonable corporate citizen,” Smith said.
The county maintains that the company contaminated soil beneath the lot?s surface. Shell received notice of “potential condemnation,” and is still listing the property for sale, company spokeswoman Karyn Leonardi-Cattolica said last week. A call to the listing agent was not returned. Smith insisted price was never an issue ? at one point, the county offered $500,000, spokesman Don Mohler said, but a judge will decide the property?s market value in court.
Towson Chamber of Commerce President Todd Huff said the nonprofit wanted to build an office and information center at the site, and submitted a $10,000 good-faith deposit. Huff said Shell ignored their offer.
Huff and other residents said they support condemnation, but aren?t convinced the site of the gas station ? which has been closed for at least a decade ? is suitable for a park. Some opponents, including Towson activist Corinne Becker, said the site should remain commercial to producetax revenue.
